WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration found 146 violations in 17 sites during an extensive review of U.S. oil refineries, officials said.

The national review began in 2007 after a series of of refinery fatalities in the United States, over the years, including the March 2005 explosion that left 15 people dead and 170 injured at BP's Texas City, Texas, refinery, the Houston Chronicle reported.

The high number of violations in 17 of 81 refineries to be audited in the National Emphasis Program is worrying, OSHA Director of Enforcement Rich Fairfax said.

"Based on the data we're finding and the number of violations, (the) program will continue," Fairfax told the Chronicle. "I have no intention of ending it after two years based on what we're finding."

As of February, there have been 29 U.S. refinery fatalities from 2005 to 2008, 18 of which occurred at BP Texas City in four incidents, the Chronicle reported.